The
U.S. has the lowest piracy rate in the world, but globally
nearly $50.1
billion dollars has been lost to piracy. As
illegal downloads become a growing problem worldwide,
individual countries may determine that they do not share the same
issues and concerns.

A new report
published June 1 from IDC Research Iberia claims that over
95 percent of music in Spain is pirated. The report indicates
that the country lost $6.3 billion in the second half of 2009.
It is estimated that the country lost about $12 billion dollars for
the entire year.

The study was commissioned by the Coalition
of Creators and Content Industries and targeted music, film, video
game, and book distribution. The final results indicated that 95.6
percent of music obtained online in the country was pirated. Pirated
films were estimated at 83.7 percent while video games came in at
52.3 percent.

Nearly 6,000 internet users in Spain were
surveyed for the study.

"The real figures are even
worse," says Coalition president Aldo Olcese, who believes that
internet users under the age of 16, presumed to be the most frequent
illegal downloaders, were not included in the study.

Anti-piracy
legislation, called the Sustainable Economy Law, is expected to be
rolled out after the summer in Spain.

"I'd be pissed too, but you didn't have to go all Minority Report on his ass!" -- Jon Stewart on police raiding Gizmodo editor Jason Chen's home